MissTravel.comsounds like it’s made just for us. Many of us are misses. Many of us like to travel. Nice deal.

But the premise of the online dating community is actually a bit more complicated. Its purpose is to “match Generous travelers who hate to travel alone with Attractive travelers who would love the opportunity to travel the world for free.” In other words, (mainly) women sign up as “Attractives” and are matched with “Generous” men who promise to show them the world on their dime. I see.

The site also features an incentive program that awards Attractives with points for future use:

“The website provides an incentive system that allows Generous members the ability to gift frequent flyer points to Attractive members (hence gifting them the gift of travel). Attractive members who accumulates enough frequent flyer points may redeem them for free airline tickets and hotel rooms, allowing them the opportunity to travel the world for free.”

Online dating incentives in general sound pretty cool since most such sites lack any incentive besides the hope of finding the man of your dreams and the pleasure of dealing with weirdoes at arm’s length instead of face-to-face. But aren’t there other ways to earn flights and hotel stays besides offering up your company (and your personal safety)? Brandon Wade, the site’s founder, is also the brains behind SeekingArrangement.com, SeekingMillionaire.com and WhatsYourPrice.com, services whose URLs toe the line between booty-for-hire and rich-man-seeking and blatantly ask men to indicate their wealth and encourage women to focus on the almighty dollar as a means of finding love. Again…I see.

Although the site specifies “no escorts” and asks members to use “common sense” in accepting invitations to leave the country with complete strangers interested in female companionship while touring foreign lands, how is this not a brand of prostitution at best and a potentially dangerous adventure at worst? Sex work is technically illegal, but it’s also the world’s oldest profession and nothing to be shocked by in the proper context. There are also probably plenty of good, honest, guys out there with piles of money lying around waiting to finance your next trip, and plenty of women who can hold their own in sticky situations. But to me, “common sense” says that thinking you’re still in control after accepting an invitation to a foreign country with someone who thinks he can pay his way into your affections is a recipe for disaster.